System for lifting a track section



July 3, 1962 F. PLASSER ETA]. 3,041,982

SYSTEM FOR LIFTING A TRACK SECTION Filed April 28, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR. fi z 7a flame; 5754/- y 1962 F. PLASSER ET AL 3,041,982

SYSTEM FOR LIFTING A TRACK SECTION Filed April 28, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2h n 2 :1: k\ l o lr\ N 0 $9 I 98 k I N a Q g [n R1 N R r\ INVENTOR.fix/m /zzwep 12 41.

July 3, 1962 F. PLASSER ETAL 3,041,932

SYSTEM FOR LIFTING A TRACK SECTION Filed April 28, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENT OR.

July 3,- 1962 F. PLASSER ET AL 3,041,982

SYSTEM FOR LIFTING A TRACK SECTION Filed April 28, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4fl )Qamsd eX a1.

United States Patent 3,tl41,982 SYSTEM FOR LIFTING A TRACK SECTEON FranzPlasser and Josef Theurer, both of Johannesgasse 3, Vienna 1, AustriaFiled Apr. 28, E58, Ser. No. 731,326 Claims priority, applicationAustria May 3, 1957 2 Claims. (Cl. 104-4) The present invention relatesto a system for lifting a track section to a predetermined level andincludes a rail lifting mechanism which moves on wheels on the track anda stationary instrument positioned at one end of this track sectionahead of and spaced from the rail lifting mechanism, the stationaryinstrument having a sight adjustable to the desired level of the track.

It is the object of this invention to improve and simplify such a tracklifting system. In accordance with the invention, any deviation of thesight line, which has been adjusted to the desired level of the track,from the actual track position at the location of the rail lifter may beobserved at the carriage which supports the lifting mechanism. For thispurpose, the carriage is provided with optical, photoelectric,television or equivalent means responsive to the sight line, this meanstransmitting intelligence to an operator of or directly operating therail lifting mechanism under constant control of this intelligence sothat the track will be accurately raised to the desired level.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, an emitter ofradiant energy, for instance a light source, may be positioned at oneend of the track section to be lifted. The rail lifting mechanism ismounted on a carriage moving toward the other end of said track section.The radiant energy beam is adjusted to be parallel to the desiredposition of the track section and is viewed from the carriage. Thisobservation may be effected by a receiver mounted on the carriage. Thereceiver may be a photoelectric cell, such as a selenium cell, whichemits a signal or an impulse when the beam impinges thereupon, i.e. whenthe track has been lifted to the desired level. Alternatively, thereceiver may itself be mounted on an angularly adjustable stationaryinstrument positioned at the other end of the track section, with thecarriage placed between the emitting and receiving instruments andhaving a stop or the like to influence or interrupt the emitted beamwhen the rail lifter has reached a predetermined height. In this manner,the receiver is caused to transmit a signal or an impulse to stop thelifting mechanism when the predetermined height is reached.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the instrument at oneend of the track section to be lifted is a transit with a telescopefocused on a marker on the track lifting mechanism. A television camerais arranged to view the marker and the coordinated centering hairline ofthe telescope and to transmit this picture to a screen which may beobserved by the operator of the lifting mechanism to stop it when themarker and the hairline register horizontally.

If the track lifting mechanism is combined with a track tamper, a visualcontrol means, for instance another television screen, may be providedon the tamper to enable the operator to view the tamped track sectionbehind the tamper.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more fully explained in connection with some preferredembodiments described in detail in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing wherein- FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of one embodiment ofthe system showing the cooperation between the track lifting mechanismand an optical surveying instrument;

FIG. 2 illustrates the rail gripping and lifting mechanism and thetransit in more detail;

FIG. 3 is a section of FIG. 2 along line IIl-III;

FIG. 4 is a side view, partly in section, of another embodiment of thetrack lifting mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a section of FIG. 4 along line V-V;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a track tamping machine with attached surveyingcarriage;

FIG. 7 is a schematic section of the surveying carriage; and

FIGS. 8 and 9 constitute side views of further embodiments of theinvention, wherein the transmitter is an optical light source.

Like reference numerals refer to like parts in all illustratedembodiments.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a carriage 1 of a track tamping machine of anysuitable type is shown to have Wheels 1 to move on rails 7. The railsare mounted on transverse ties 8 in the roadbed. A rail gripping andlifting mechanism (more fully illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3) is mountedat the front end of the carriage which overhangs the track section to betamped. The piston rod 17, which is vertically reciprocably mounted incylinder 18 to effect the rail lifting movement, carries at its upperend a plate 2 with horizontal marker 2. The surveying instrument ortransit is positioned at the end of the track section to be lifted andtamped.

As shown in FIG. 2., the transit is mounted on tripod 3 whichuniversally supports a platform and bracket 9, the telescope 3 beingpivoted in the bracket 9. The telescope has a centering hairline andcooperates with an angular scale 10 to adjust the angular position ofthe telescope. A television camera means 4 is arranged on the telescopeto take the picture of the marker 2' and the telescope hairline as it isreceived by beam 3" and projected into the camera by suitable opticalmeans, an inclined reflecting element in the path of beam 3" beingshown. The camera means is connected with a screen 5 by means of acoaxial cable 6 or equivalent transmission means, the screen beingmounted on carriage 1.

The rail gripping device includes a vise consisting of a pair ofclamping jaws '11 pivotally connected intermediate their ends at fulcrum11'. In a manner known per se, the vise also has a rail contact element11" to make certain that the marker 2' always has the identical distancefrom the upper edge of the rail. The clamping jaws are operatedhydraulically in a known manner. For this purpose, there is providedpressure fiuid cylinder 12 carrying piston 13 with piston rod 13, returnspring 14 being mounted in one of the cylinder chambers while the otherchamber is connected to pressure fluid supply conduit 15.

The rail gripping device, is. the stationary one of clamping jaws 11, isconnected to vertically reciprocable piston rod 17 of the rail liftingmechanism. This mechanism comprises pressure fluid cylinder 16 whereinpiston 17 and piston rod 17 glide. One chamber of the cylinder holdscompression spring '18 which is weakly biased downwardly to keep contactelement 11" in permanent engagement with the upper edge of the rail.Pressure fiuid supply line 19 leads into the other chamber of cylinder16.

The pressure fluid supply to cylinders 12 and 16 is controlled by avalve consisting of cylindrical valve housing 20 and piston or slide 21connected to piston rod 21. A handle is movable about fulcrum 23 intopositions I, II, and III, the handle being connected to the piston rodto enable the slide 21 to be moved in cylinder 2i) into correspondingcontrol positions I, II, and III. A pump 25 feeds pressure fluid fromfluid supply 2-6 through line 24 into the valve housing, a pressurerelief valve 27 s arpen a? being connected to return line 28 so as tolimit the maximum pressure in the cylinders of the rail gripping andlifting mechanism.

The machine operates as follows:

The operator moves the carriage 1 into position so that the tarnpingtools are vertically aligned above the tie to be tamped, in a mannerwell known per se. Before starting the tamping of the ballast, he moveshandle 22 from its rest position I into operating position II. Inposition I (illustrated in broken lines in FIG. 2), pump 25 merelyreturns fiuid through valve 27 and return conduit 28 into the fluidstorage tank 26. Since valve 15' in conduit 15 is open, fluid will besupplied through line 15 to cylinder 12 when position II (full lines) isassumed. The fluid pressure will move piston 13 to the right (as viewedin FIG. 3) thus forcing the pivoted clamping jaw which is fixedlyconnected to the piston rod .13 to grip the rail 7 between it and itscooperating fixed jaw, the entire vise being downwardly pressed intoengagement with the rail by spring 18. Now handle 22 is thrown intoposition III. In the latter position, fluid will also be supplied tocylinder 16 through conduit 19 whereby rail 7 will be lifted against thepressure of spring 18.

The operator now looks at television screen where he watches therelative positions of marker 2' and the centering hairline of thetelescope, as the picture comes from camera 4. As soon as the marker andthe hairline register horizontally, he throws the handle 22 back intoposition It. This promptly stops further lifting of the rail butmaintains the same in the lifted position since the pressure in cylinder:16 remains unchanged for the time being. Tamping of the ballast beneaththe tie is now effected to fix the rail in the position to which it waslifted. It is suificient to fix the vertical position of one of therails of the track in the indicated manner since the position of theother rail can readily be fixed in the usual manner by means of a level.While tamping proceeds and after it is completed, the operator canconstantly observe the correct position of the track by watching thescreen which projects the relative position of marker 2' and thecentering hairline of the transit telescope 3. Any necessary correctionscan be affected immediately by further lifting of the rails andadditional tamping.

After tamping is completed, the vise can be promptly detached from therail by throwing handle 22. into position I, causing pressure fluid toflow out of cylinders 12 and 16 instantly and to return to the iluidsupply by return line 225. The tamping machine is now ready to be drivenforward to the next tie to be tamped. During this forward movement ofthe carriage, the contact element 11" will glide over the rail 7.Therefore, it is preferred to use friction-reducing means such asrollers, balls and the like.

When the tamper is not in use but merely driven over the tracks to alocation where road maintenance work is to be effected, the railgripping device is moved upwardly out of engagement with the rail. Thisis done by closing check valve so that no fluid can be supplied tocylinder 12 and the vise remains open. While the vise is in thisposition, handle 22 is moved into position III to lift the vise oif therail. It may be maintained in the upper position by any known mechanicalmeans (not shown).

In the system of FIGS. 4 and 5, the rail gripping and lifting mechanismis not mounted at the front end of tarnping machine carriage 1 but on aseparate carriage 3% moving on trucks 3%. Carriage 30 is attached to thefront end of carriage 1 by means of a longitudinally adjustablecoupling. The coupling comprises a cylinder 31 linked at one end topivot 29 while the pivot 29 is connected to carriage '50 and linked topiston rod 32', the piston rod carrying piston 32 slidably mounted incylinder 31. As shown, pressure fluid may be supplied to one cylinderchamber to move the piston into any desired position whereby thedistance of carriage 30 from carriage 1 may be adjusted according to thetie spacing.

To be operative, the rail gripping and lifting mechanism mounted oncarriage 30 must be supportable on the ballast bed 8. For this purpose,the lift cylinder 16 is vertically slidably mounted in brackets 3 andhas attached thereto a pair of jacking or support members 33 extendingdownwardly at each side of rail 7 to contact the road bed.

As in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the piston 17 is urged downwardly byspring 18 while a coil spring 34 is mounted between the brackets 30" anda shoulder 35 at the upper end of the lift cylinder, spring 34 beingbiased to urge the cylinder upwardly so that the jacking membersattached to the cylinder will not interfere with the forward movement ofthe machine when the lifting device is in its rest position. Thevertical play of the lift cylinder is limited by its end shoulders 35and 35.

As shown in FIG. 4, the plate 2 with marker 2' is mounted at the frontend of carriage 30 whereby the vertical position of the lifting devicemay be sighted in the same manner as in the aforedescribed embodiment.

The rail gripping and lifting mechanism also operates essentially in thesame manner. When pressure fluid is fed through conduit 19 into cylinder16, the cylinder is first moved downwardly since the piston rod 17 isfixedly held in View of the vise 11 being clamped to the rail. As soonas the downward movement of the lift cylinder brings the jacking members33 into contact with the road bed, the resistance of the bed will forcethe entire carriage with the rail clamped to vise 11 to be jacked upupon further supply of fluid to cylinder 16. This causes the marker 2'to move in relation to the centering hairline of the telescope 3 in thesame manner as explained in connection with PEG. 13, tamping beingcontrolled by the operator who views the television screen 5 todetermine the proper level of the rail.

FIG. 6 illustrates a conventional track tamping machine having a trailer36 coupled to its carriage 1, the coupling being shown at 36. Thetrailer carries a bubble level 37 with a scale 37. The scale is viewedby a television camera 38 connected to screen 5' by a suitableelectrical picture transmission means, i.e. a coaxial cable 6. Thetelevision screen 5 is mounted on carriage 1 within view of the machineoperator so that he may constantly observe the position of the tampedtrack.

In the embodiment of FIG. 8, the track gripping and lifting mechanism ofFIG. 4 is shown to cooperate with a light source mounted on tripod 3'and adjustable to project a beam 3" toward the lifting device. The lightsource may be, for instance, a stroboscopic spotlight 40 which emits asharply defined pencil of rays 3". The structure of the rail grippingand lifting device has been described in conjunction with FIG. 4 and isidentical therewith. Instead of marker 2', the carriage 30 carries areceiver for light pencil 3", which is a selenium cell 39 in theillustrated embodiment. Any suitable optical or acoustic signalingdevice 42 may be connected to the receiver 39 to indicate to theoperator when the light pencil 3 impinges upon the receiver, such meansbeing well known per se and being accordingly only diagrammaticallyindicated. Alternatively, the execited selenium cell may trip anelectrical circuit for automatically actuating the rail gripping andlifting device in a manner known per se. In this case, no signalingdevice for alerting the operator is needed.

A modification of the embodiment of FIG. 8 is shown in FlG. 9. In thiscase, the emitting light source is also stationed at the end of thetrack section to be tamped, as shown at 40, but the receiving seleniumcell 39 is mounted on a separate housing 42' which is supported by atripod 3 at the other end of this track section. The carriage 30 withits rail gripping and lifting mechanism runs on this track sectionbetween emitter 40 and receiver 39. The carriage supports a fixed stop2" which interrupts the light pencil 3" when the rail lifting mechanismraises the track and carriage 30, as hereinbefore described. The impulsein the selenium cell 39 caused by the interruption of the impinginglight beam is transmitted by an electrical transmission means, such aselectric cable 6", to signaling device 41 mounted on carriage 30.Alternatively, the impulse from the selenium cell may be used directlyto deactivate the rail lifter as soon as the rail is raised to thedesired level, i.e. when stop 2" interrupts the light beam from emitter40. Furthermore, the cable 6" may also be omitted if a signaling device41 is mounted directly on housing 42 and emits a signal which can bereceived at the location of the lifting mechanism.

Essentially, the embodiments of FIGS. 8 and 9 operate along similarlines. After prolonged use, a railway track shows high points atchanging distances from each other, where the track has not been or hasonly been a little depressed from its original and correct level. Thesepoints require no position adjustment, i.e. the ties at such high pointsof the track require no tamping. On the other hand, track sectionsbet-ween these high points have been more or less depressed and must belifted to their original level.

Such track sections of reasonable length are delineated by positioning aradiant emitter at one of the high points of the track, as the tracktamper approaches each section in continuous operation. The emittedlight or other radiant beam 3" is adjusted to be exactly parallel to thedesired position of the track. This sight beam can be adjusted eitherabsolutely on the basis of requisite measurements or by means ofexisting fixed survey points or relatively in respect of a high point atthe other end of the track section to be lifted, for instance seleniumcell 39.

After the beam is angularly adjusted to the desired position whichcorresponds to the desired level of the track, the carriage 30 is movedfrom tie to tie. The beam 3 is controlled from the carriage by stop 2and when the beanr is interrupted, the selenium cell 39 will transmit asignal to the operator or will directly operate the rail lifter to stopits movement so that the rail will remain in the desired position.

It is one of the outstanding advantages of the invention that the systemconstitutes a continuous and automatic control of the track positioningwithout manual aid, assuring accurate levelling of the track without theneed of time-consuming after-measurements and corrective work.

The use of light sources is particularly economical and also assuresvery accurate measurements when presentday stroboscope flashes areutilized for this purpose.

It will be readily understood that the radiant energy emitted andreceived may be of any suitable type making control from the position ofthe lifting mechanism possible and assuring sufficient accuracy. Thus,in addition to light or electron waves, there may be usedelectromagnetic radiation of other types, such as infrared orultraviolet waves, supersonic waves, etc.

What we claim is:

1. A system for successively aligning an elongated, substantiallyhorizontal track, comprising a first aligned elongated section of saidtrack; a second elongated section of said track longitudinally spacedfrom said first section and to be aligned therewith; first and secondsupports respectively arranged on said track sections, said firstsupport being movable on said first track section and having first andsecond portions spaced along said track sections, the first portionbeing vertically above said second track section and the second portionresting on said aligned track section direction; track lifting means onthe first one of said portions nearer said second support and operablefor lifting a longitudinally coordinated element of said second tracksection; track tamping means on the first one of said portions furtherremote from said second support for securing said track element in alifted position when said first support moves towards said secondsupport; marker means on said first support at a fixed vertical distancefrom said track element; optical means on said second support forestablishing a fixed line of sight from said second support toward saidmarker means, said marker means being aligned with said line of sightwhen said track element is lifted; indicating means on said secondportion of the first support operatively connected to said optical meansfor indicating alignment of said marker means with said line of sight;and control means on said first support for controlling operation ofsaid track lifting means.

2. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said line of sight extendsin a substantially, horizontal direction parallel to the direction ofelongation of said track.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,199,059 Doty Sept. 26, 1916 2,056,216 Somers Oct. 6, 1936 2,359,032Gott Sept. 26, 1944 2,602,524 Shirley 2-2-- July 8, 1952 2,734,463 Hurshet al. Feb. 14, 1956 2,753,502 Kylin July 3, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS218,106 Australia May 2, 1957 753,519 Great Britain July 25, 1956 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE "CERTIFICATE. OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,041,982July 3, 1962 Franz Plasser et a1.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the abov ent requiringcorrection and that the said Letters Patent corrected below.

a numbered petshould read as Column 6, line 18, strike out "direction";

line 37, after "substantially? strike out the comma.

Signed and sealed this 27th day of November 1962 (SEAL) Attest: ESTON G.JOHNSON a; m. \Mkhb'? Atteating Officer DAVID L. LADD Commissioner ofPatents

